OA is a proud supporter of Motogo. Motogo builds confidence by providing a hands-on introduction to real world problem solving and critical thinking through the tangible avenue of motorcycle maintenance. They bring the generations of skill-building once learned in our grandfathers’ garages into the classroom. Through an industrial arts curriculum centered on a getting-your-hands-dirty application, students learn proper tool usage, measurement, calculations, and small engine operation and maintenance. Higher learning and vocational careers should not exist as mutually exclusive entities. ALL students benefit from understanding how machines work. Many schools don’t have the resources to offer shop class in-house, or transport students to an off-site location. Motogo meets students where they are. Our Bringing Back Shop Class benefit is on Saturday February 8 2020. Not only will you get to meet the Motogo team and learn more about the program and our early successes, there will be food, open bar, interactive demonstrations, silent auction and raffles, and live entertainment. Details will be available soon. If you want to help now you can donate here. Organizational Architecture is proud to help Motogo bring these skills to students in Northeast Ohio and beyond and will be involved with helping Brian and Molly bring this program to students in 2020. Want to learn more? Contact Brian or Molly by email or call 216.701.7073…or better yet, stop by the garage at 5401 Hamilton Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram...
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From all of us at Organizational Architecture to you, our clients, colleagues, and friends…we wish you a happy and restful Thanksgiving. We are grateful to all of you who have helped us throughout the year. THANKS!
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The State of Ohio has released its new Minimum Wage poster for 2020. Ohio employers are required to post this in a conspicuous place where the employees can see the poster easily. Visit Ohio.gov to print your copy and post as many as needed in your workplace. Watch for new updates on workforce strategy or contact us for other helpful...
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We’ve worked with a number of municipalities over the years, such as the cities of Cleveland Heights, Strongsville, and others, and we were pleased to help another one this summer with compensation benchmarking for its management positions. The City of Rossford Ohio is located in Northwest Ohio, along the Maumee River and is an ideal destination for discovery as you explore its quaint downtown, beautiful marina, its Crossroads Shopping mecca, and its historic surroundings. Originally contacted by a member of Council for assistance with this project, we worked closely with the City Administrator and Finance Director on this project. Ed Ciecka, Interim City Administrator and Karen Freeman, Finance Director, were our partners and said: We were interested in understanding how compensation for our management positions compared to the market. This information would be helpful to both the Mayor and the City Council in planning for the next year. Council members reached out to OA and we worked with them to provide information and review the analysis before presenting it at a Council meeting. The OA team provided us insight into how we compared to the market, and gave us good information on compensation best practices and trends. They shared meaningful information both in the context of public-sector employers and the broader market for labor. They used both survey data and information they acquired directly from other municipalities that we deem to be peers. This information is important as we plan our budgets for 2020, and provide us and Council with a useful perspective on fair and equitable pay for our management team. The information in their report was clear. Furthermore OA was available to answer questions in person and provided both the Finance Committee and our citizens with a clear explanation of their work and findings. We appreciate their assistance and recommend them. Public sector employers are one of our specialties. Whether you are a municipality, agency, or public library system, we can help with your HR programs, including compensation benchmarking and pay structures, recruiting, and temporary HR assistance. If you need assistance with your compensation programs or other HR consulting needs, contact us and check out other success stories to learn...
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For most organizations, the fourth quarter is when compensation planning for the following year occurs. To make sure that you stay on track paying your people fairly and competitively, here are some things you should think about when you when you are planning for next year’s compensation budget. What should the merit increase budget be? Setting your merit budget is usually the first step. A number of consulting organizations conduct surveys through the year and publish results in the autumn to help with compensation planning. Using this information an organization can determine what its overall increase target should be. Most organizations use a system that rewards higher performers with a higher merit increase amount, while giving little or no increase to poor performers. Do your pay ranges need to be adjusted? If you rely on pay ranges to ensure internal equity and for ease of administration, you need to make sure they still have a relationship to the market. If it has been more than three years, you may want to check how your ranges compare to the market and if adjustments are needed. Are your incentives like commissions and bonuses driving the behaviors and outcomes you desire? If you pay bonuses or commission, how do you know you are getting the outcomes you want? Are they true motivators? Is the amount of incentive pay appropriate for the job performed? There are many things to consider when paying incentives. Spending some time analyzing what people are doing and what kinds of results they get is a good place to start when analyzing your incentive compensation plans. Are you rewarding top performers well? While studies have shown that there are so many other factors that determine how engaged employees are and whether they stay other than money, we do know that for top performers this is a key driver for them. Make sure that top performers are receiving better than average rewards, and that you demonstrate in a tangible way that you value their contributions. Who will ensure that increases and bonuses are being allocated fairly? When it comes to compensation planning and administration, we feel that the best programs grow from a collaboration that includes operations, finance, and human...
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Recently we had the opportunity to perform an executive compensation study for an organization that provides learning opportunities for physicians and health care professionals in all areas of clinical care and research. They provide diverse educational activities that aim to increase knowledge, attitude and skills, enhance practice performance and improve the health status of patients and the communities they serve. This organization is affiliated with several hospitals in the eastern part of Ohio. Because of the sensitive nature of this analysis, they wished to remain anonymous. This organization was recently set up as a separate entity and needed to develop a framework for compensating its staff, specifically the President. They contacted OA earlier this year to provide insight into senior level not-for-profit compensation, and provide guidelines for appropriate compensation levels. They told us: We found OA and realized quickly they had the tools and experience to help us. There are few organizations exactly like us so it is difficult to find comparable benchmarks. Additionally, we wanted to understand fully the elements that can make up a total rewards package in order to develop the most meaningful compensation system. OA not only provided benchmark compensation data using valid and reliable survey data, they analyzed elements of our current programs, reviewed public disclosures, and shared compensation best practices and trends to provide us with a thorough analysis and recommendations that we can take to our board. They worked with us throughout the process to keep us informed of their progress and findings. We got the information we needed to inform our board, and we also have a framework for compensation decision-making going forward. Helping not-for-profit organizations with their compensation programs if one of our specialties. If you need help with compensation or have other HR consulting needs, contact us and check out other success stories to learn...
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